Pinyin

5.5 Verb-Complement Constructions

A verb-complement construction is composed of a verb followed by a complementary element, or complement. A verb complement is different in nature from a verb object; an object is the recipient of the action expressed by the verb and is usually a
noun, but a complement serves to describe or explain the action expressed by the verb and is almost never a noun. Adjectives or verbs more commonly serve as complements.

The verb-complement construction, like the verb-object construction, can be used either to form phrases or to form words. When a verb-complement construction forms a phrase, it is composed of two individual words; when it forms a word, then its
two components are dependent morphemes. It is often extremely difficult to tell whether a given verb-complement construction is a phrase or a word, as in the examples below:

From a semantic or from an intuitive point of view, the relation between the two components of the verb-complement construction is closer than that between the components of the verb-object construction. Consider the verb-object construction
dǎ rén (to hit a person), in which the verb dǎ stands in opposition to its object. The whole clearly forms a phrase, not a single word. It is far more
difficult to determine whether the following verb-complement constructions with dǎ are single words or phrases:

dǎ (to strike) + dǎo (to topple) = (to overthrow);

dǎ + bài (to defeat) = (to defeat);

dǎ + kāi (to open) = (to open, turn on);

dǎ + pò (to break) = (to break);

dǎ + tōng (through) = (to get through);

dǎ + sǐ (to die) = (to beat to death).

For this reason, we are forced to fall back on the criterion of number of syllables and Putonghua's tendency toward disyllabism to set rules for the writing of verb-complement constructions. Ruling on the basis of syllables has two distinct
advantages: it makes orthography easier to master and avoids the question of word versus phrase; and it keeps written words moderate in length, which is an aid to comprehension. In the following section, verb-complement constructions are introduced
and discussed according to internal syllable structure.

To sum up: all verb-complement constructions except those of the form 1 + 1 are written as two units.

Two more points still require clarification:

An adjective can sometimes serve as the "verb" of a verb-complement construction. The same ortbographic rules operate in this situation as with other verb-complement constructions. A few examples:

hóng (red) + tòu (fully) --> hóngtòu (red through and through);

hóng (red) + qǐlai (to begin) --> hóng qǐlai (to become red);

nuǎnhuo (warm) + qǐlai (to begin) --> nuǎnhuo qǐlai (to get warm).

A verb-complement construction may be followed by the tense marker le. If the verb-complement construction is written as a single unit, then le is written together with it; if the construction is written as two units, then le is written separate
from it. This is the same general principle as was set out in Section 2 above, in the discussion of le. A few examples of le with verb-complement constructions:

This rule applies only when le appears in the middle of a sentence. When le is the final element in a sentence or clause, it is always written separately from the word preceding it, as stated in Section 2 above.